A short You-Tube video created by Publicis London and voiced by actor Chris O’Dowd and sees two friends pitted against each other in a race to two very different destinations – can ‘Yer Man’ fly to Ireland and have a pint of stout before his mate ‘Office Boy’ commutes to his London office and has a latte?

The video shows the contrast between the chaos in the capital and the tranquillity and lack of gridlock in Ireland. ‘Office Boy’ is seen straining to reach his destination travelling by bus, taxi, rickshaw and cycle, while ‘Yer Man’ has a relaxing journey facing a minor delay in his taxi as a herd of sheep cross the road. ‘Office Boy’ makes his destination thinking he’s won as ‘Yer Man’ orders his second drink viewing the tranquil seascape.

The film ends with the challenge: “How will you deal with the madness? Will you escape it, or embrace it?”, viewers are asked to make their choice and depending on which one they pick will be invited to enter a prize draw to win either a trip to Ireland, or VIP treatment at Irish House in London or a tab at the Porterhouse in Covent Garden.

Mark Henry, Tourism Ireland’s central marketing director, commented: “Tourism Ireland is a strong believer in the power of engaging content to generate positive word of mouth about Ireland. London’s summer of madness is just about upon us so what better time to suggest a relaxing trip across the Irish Sea instead?

“Chris O’Dowd became involved after he tweeted a request to become the voice of Tourism Ireland in Britain and I told him that we would be happy to oblige! This humorous short film is the result of our collaboration and we hope it gets widely shared the length and breadth of Britain.”

The You-Tube video will be supported by seeding via Rubber Republic and Outbrain, premium video page posts on Facebook and pre-roll Twitter activity. Twitter users are also encouraged to join the debate via hashtags #escapethemadness or #embracethemadness.